Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 439

Han Li also looked at the old man with a strange expression, his gaze fixed on the dozen or so Dharma practitioners [practitioners of esoteric Buddhist arts] flying towards them.

The Dharma practitioner in yellow robes, leading the group, surprisingly possessed a mid-Nascent Soul cultivation [a high level of cultivation in this world]. It was unusual that a Dharma practitioner of such high cultivation had not been on the battlefield.

The Old Devil of the Joyful Union Sect and the Sect Master of the Yin Fiend Sect in the sky were also silently observing, waiting.

Before the skinny old man could ask anything, he saw the cultivator in yellow robes approach and speak to him silently, moving his lips without making a sound.

The skinny old man’s face hardened, and the yellow-robed cultivator took out a jade slip and handed it over. The old man infused his consciousness into the jade slip, and after a moment, his complexion turned pale.

He exchanged a few words with the yellow-robed cultivator through telepathy. The Peony Clan’s Divine Envoy [a high-ranking messenger] hurriedly turned around, returned to Ryongham and the others, and said with a calm face,

“We must stop fighting immediately and agree to a truce.”

“What are you talking about! Explain why you’re suddenly proposing a truce.”

Although Han Li had intervened to deal with the Donggapshi [a type of powerful being] and the blue firebird, the odds of victory were still uncertain. Ryongham didn’t believe the other side was proposing a truce out of fear.

“Were you planning to send cultivators to raid the All-Heaven City warehouse?”

The old man didn’t answer Ryongham’s question directly but asked grimly. Ryongham was surprised but didn’t show it.

“It seems you’ve already been found out, seeing as you know about it!”

“Found out? Hmph, if it weren’t for the intervention of a third party, you would have been robbed already.”

Anger flashed across the old man’s face.

“A third party?”

Ryongham narrowed his brows, and the skinny old man sent him a telepathic message.

“What did you say?”

Ryongham’s expression changed after hearing a few words.

“Does this Divine Envoy have any reason to fabricate such a thing?”

At the old man’s grumbling, Ryongham calmed himself and flipped his palm, taking out a talisman.

As the talisman rose high into the sky and scattered into golden light, the cultivators who saw it immediately stopped attacking and returned to their camps.

The Dharma practitioners also seemed to have received the message, silently retreating. Among them were the blood-colored demons and stone men.

Suddenly, a void appeared between the two camps.

Many cultivators had died, and many had their vital energy damaged. Fortunately, the casualties among the high-level cultivators and Dharma practitioners were relatively low.

Some high-level cultivators immediately surrounded Ryongham and asked for the reason.

At that moment, the gloomy clouds and gray fog in the sky dispersed, revealing the black-clad man and the Old Devil of the Joyful Union Sect glaring coldly at each other.

The sounds of fierce fighting above also disappeared, and Wu Wuyai and Jiyang Shangren descended unscathed. The numerous cultivators in the cultivator camp looked at them with relief.

Shortly after, when the Middle Clan Scholar and the Dwarf Dharma Practitioner also descended safely, cheers erupted from the Dharma practitioner camp.

Only after the three great cultivators returned did Ryongham speak.

Fearing that the news would spread and cause an uproar, only cultivators above the mid-Nascent Soul stage gathered and created a small barrier to share the news from the Dharma practitioner side.

Given Han Li’s achievements today, he was naturally included.

Han Li quietly watched as Ryongham set up a soundproof barrier, completely isolating them from the outside.

There were only about twenty cultivators gathered inside. All of them were representatives of their respective forces.

“Cultivator Ryong, what is going on! Why are the Peony people suddenly proposing a truce?”

Jiyang Shangren asked.

“It’s strange. The situation has already reached this point, do they really think it’s possible to retreat peacefully?”

Wu Wuyai also asked suspiciously.

“It seems that not only the other side but also our side needs to agree to a truce.”

“Are you saying that another force has really intervened!”

The Old Devil of the Joyful Union Sect frowned.

“Yes, the Dolol people have stepped in. Moreover, it seems they have joined forces with several sects from the Jin Kingdom and are pushing into the Peony Plains all at once. The clan in charge of the rearmost defense was annihilated a month ago, which is why the news of the Dolol people’s invasion didn’t spread. They moved so quietly that even other Peony Clan villages were unaware, so it’s clear that the Dolol people are trying to take advantage of the situation.”

Ryongham carefully relayed the information he had heard.

“How do you know the information is true? I thought the Dolol people lived far away from the Tiannan region. Perhaps the Peony people are trying to deceive us.”

Soul-Locking Zhenren [a title for a cultivator] doubted the truth of the information.

“It’s probably not false. The lowly old monsters and their group who infiltrated All-Heaven City failed. It seems that the Dolol spies within the Peony Clan had the same plan as us and tried to raid the warehouse first! In the end, they encountered the lowly cultivator, and both sides’ identities were exposed.

As you all know, it is true that the Peony Clan’s strength is inferior to ours, but they are people who will fight to the death. If a cultivator hadn’t stepped in at a crucial moment to deal with the Donggapshi and the Peony Clan’s Saint Ancestor, it would have been dangerous.

Moreover, although the forces of Tiannan have joined forces, it is also true that everyone has left more than half of their disciples in their sects. If we continue to fight with the Peony Dharma practitioners and exhaust each other’s strength, the Dolol people will push in, and Tiannan will be in danger.”

Ryongham said, looking troubled.

“The Peony people want our foundation, so how can we come to an agreement? Are we going to give them half of the Tiannan region as they wish?”

Wu Wuyai coldly retorted, as if he was not satisfied with the truce.

“Half is not possible, but wouldn’t it be possible to give the Peony people about two countries on the border of the Peony Plains? That way, the Peony people will still block the Dolol people’s attacks, and if a war breaks out between the two tribes, they won’t have time to covet Tiannan.

We must unite with the Peony people to stop the Dolol people’s attacks for now.”

The cultivators were not greatly surprised by the talk of an alliance with the other side. They were all old monsters who had lived for hundreds of years and had seen it all.

“If it’s a country near the border, doesn’t that mean we’re giving up the foundation of our National Salvation Alliance?”

Wu Wuyai’s expression was not good.

“That’s unavoidable, but if your alliance agrees, other forces will naturally discuss reasonable compensation.”

Ryongham explained kindly.

“Let’s talk about that later and first hear what the Peony people think.”

Wu Wuyai concluded with dissatisfaction.

Han Li glanced at Jiyang Shangren and the Old Devil of the Joyful Union Sect. Although they didn’t show it, they didn’t seem to oppose it. Perhaps they were just keeping their mouths shut because it wasn’t easy to agree directly in front of Wu Wuyai.

Han Li sighed. It was true that there was no force that wouldn’t join hands for the sake of profit.

Ryongham smiled even at Wu Wuyai’s dissatisfied tone and agreed.

“That’s right. This is just my opinion, and we need to discuss the specifics together. Then, we will immediately send cultivators to the Peony Plains to find out if it’s true, and then discuss it with the Dharma practitioners. But if the Dolol people’s invasion is true, it would be right for everyone to take a step back.”

Everyone’s eyes showed agreement, and Wu Wuyai’s expression also eased a little.

Various details were discussed, but Han Li didn’t say a word. He didn’t want to get involved as long as he and the Fallen Cloud Sect weren’t affected.

Besides, with Ryongham around, the Heavenly Dao Alliance wouldn’t suffer any losses.

Not long after, the old monsters who had finished their discussion removed the barrier. When the other side also finished their discussion, they sent envoys to each other and agreed to a temporary truce.

The cultivators watched the Dharma practitioners leave and then withdrew their camps. The large-scale war that tens of thousands of cultivators had waged came to an end.

* * *

Due to the sudden invasion of the Dolol people, both the Peony people and the Tiannan forces dramatically agreed to a truce. The returned lowly old monster proved that their words were true.

Large forces each sent cultivators to explore the Peony Plains, and they noticed that the Peony Clan’s commoners were being driven out of the border of the plains and that the Dolol people were residing there.

Several months had passed since the end of the war in the border area. Now, both sides were engaged in fierce negotiations.

At first, the Peony people said that they would continue the war with Tiannan even if it meant their extinction unless they were given one-third of the Tiannan region.

However, as a large number of Peony Clan commoners who had been driven out of the border of the plains poured in, and the Dolol people began openly killing Peony Dharma practitioners, the Divine Envoys’ positions gradually changed.

In any case, the Tiannan cultivators had participated in the agreement out of concern for the future, but the Peony people were in a situation where they had to put out the fire that had fallen on their feet.

Moreover, the Peony people and the Dolol people had such deep-seated grudges built up over tens of thousands of years that they were not at all a subject for negotiation.

After several stages, an agreement was finally reached in which Tiannan would cede two countries. Thus, the Peony people gained land to build their strength, but in return, they had to block the Dolol people’s advance.

With this, both sides reached a smooth agreement. However, the matter related to Han Li was not a simple problem to solve.

One was the matter of killing the Yin Fiend Sect Master’s companion. The Jin Kingdom’s demonic beasts would never forget this. They had sent him several challenge letters, requesting a one-on-one duel.

Of course, Han Li turned them to ashes as soon as he confirmed them.

When the war between the Peony people and Tiannan ended, the Yin Fiend Sect Master immediately led his subordinates to retreat, having made some secret agreement with the Peony Clan’s Divine Envoys.

Another issue was that the Origin Illumination Lamp that Han Li had taken was the Peony Clan’s ancestral treasure. He didn’t want to suffer a disaster by being greedy, so he demanded a large amount of essence stones [a form of currency] in return.

Unfortunately, the Peony people couldn’t obtain essence stones either, so they only sent a small lump. They filled the rest with other precious materials.

Han Li also had no intention of openly carrying something like the Origin Illumination Lamp. If it became known that he possessed the Peony Clan’s treasure, trouble would arise at any time.

Han Li turned his gaze towards the twilight.

Without him asking separately when returning the Origin Illumination Lamp, the Peony people returned Han Li’s Violet Cloud Hood and basket-shaped ancient treasure along with the rare materials.

To live in Tiannan, he had to get along well with the high-level cultivators, and it seemed that they thought it was not wise to be at odds with a talented and young Nascent Soul cultivator like him.

He received the ancient treasures and gave the Violet Cloud Hood to Yin Yue. It was a natural reward since she had helped him greatly several times.

After the war ended, perhaps because the rumor that the Tiannan cultivators and the Peony people had joined hands spread, the Dolol people didn’t immediately launch an attack and watched the situation.

However, high-level cultivators such as Jiyang Shangren and Ryongham became more worried. The fact that the other side was being so cautious meant that they were likely targeting not only the Peony Plains but also Tiannan.

Also, now that the war was over, the disciples couldn’t continue to stay in the National Salvation Alliance, so each sect sent elite disciples to take turns guarding the borders. The Dolol people were currently quiet, but they could attack again at any time, so they couldn’t be negligent in their defenses.

As the order to return to their respective sects was issued, the cultivators returned to their sects one by one. However, Liu Luo had many things to take care of, so Han Li decided to return to the Fallen Cloud Sect first.

He flew on the Wind-Riding Chariot to save time.

As he entered the Gui Kingdom and began to see Mount Unmeng in the distance, Han Li smiled, thinking of Nangong Wan’s beautiful appearance.

# 441